London housing project wins top architecture award

Nestled amongst trees on the edge of green-belt land, the development's soft purple and pink brickwork blends high-density housing into an area of natural beauty.

At a time when housing developments are often judged by their cost and number of homes they can deliver, the project was recognised for the way it responds to its surroundings.

Williamson said "the housing blocks blend into the parkland beyond, while small variations in pattern add texture and give each building its own identity."

He added: "The way it fits into the hillside - it doesn't look like a large housing scheme.

"It has community gardens, it's the sort of place i would have liked to have grown up in."

Duggan, who was brought up in south-west London, said the scheme "challenged conventional suburban housing layouts centred on roads, private gardens and clearly defined front and back spaces".

Winding paths and planting weave between the blocks, connecting them and linking shared outdoor spaces.

She said she wanted it to be a public space people felt they could belong to.

"Housing needs to be progressive. People who live in the building have access to green space, allotments."

The site fronts onto Lion Green Road, with low-rise green belt housing set on higher ground to the south and traditional suburban streets to the north.